Hi folks,

Sadly my first post here is an unpleasant experience.

I had the worst customer experience at CKS Performance Ltd in Watford.

Took my car there for a service & check last year, was told nothing was wrong, and a few weeks later I ended up with a massive bill for repairs. I'm shocked they are still in business.

Now I'm going to take them to court, any advice or if you have went down a similar route, please let me know!

:mad :mad :mad :mad :mad

 

Hello,

In response to your predicament with CKS performance, by this time last 2 years, I had the worst customer experience with Chet, the MD of the company. Infact, to cut a whole story short, I bought some LED bulbs for my CLS foglamps. The technician who had them fitted put resistors but failed to secure the resistors away in a safe place to avoid contact with the plastic tray. After a while, the resistors overheated and melted the lower plastic tray. The technician who was assigned to carry out this job on my car negligently did the job and as a matter of fact his breach of duty made CKS performance vicariously liable. I did not ask for monetary compensation but all I needed was 'Specific Performance' that is for them to fix the plastic tray by replacing it with a new Mercedes OEM tray. The car would have caught fire if I did not notice the problem in time. I sent an email to their customer service department to explain the issue and I did include pictures of the damaged tray as irrefutable proof.

They adamantly refused to reply to my series of mails and I had no option than to call them. They asked me to bring the car in. When I did, they wanted to take a clear short cut easy approach to remedy the problem i.e. solder or buy an after market tray which is not OEM. Chet, the managing director, instead of accepting liability, was trying to argue with me or make me feel that he was doing me a favour by accepting to fix the damaged tray. Despite the breach of duty of care, in essence, Mr. Chet,was making me understand that he was under no obligation to fix the melted tray. The matter escalated and finally because I stood my ground, they ordered a new plastic tray from Mercedes and had it fixed the next day.

This was such a simple problem that they could have dealt with easily without raising alarm considering that any product emanating from CKS performance is not cheap. Because of this sad experience, I decided to steer clear and have nothing to do with CKS performance again.

Maybe, people are giving them the leeway or latitude to get away with their idiosycrasies which in the commercial world is unacceptable. If your case is successful, it may open the floodgates to more damages claims against the company. Best of luck with your litigation !

This is the picture of the melted lower tray.

 

Wow that looks nasty, I have dealt with them when I needed to order a replacement Carlsson wheel, but they were very helpful and even over night shipped the wheel from the UK to Washington D.C. and paid for the cost.

That's my only experience with them, I looked at there products and it all seems over priced, but these guys were the only one who had rim since the 1/16 UL is a very rare rim

 

I read this thread a week ago and went ahead and ordered a C200 CGI exhaust on March 25 from CKS through their online system, using my US$ balance with Paypal. An automated order confirmation was received by email from CKS and all seemed well.

I then emailed them with a couple of questions regarding the exhaust as wel as the downpipe they offer. Chet then made some negative comments about the pigyback I have on my car.

C = Chet
V = me

C - Overfuelling issues, misfires, engine management light reappearing. You would need to contact them as we do not produce the boxes.

V - I have not had any problems with the unit, which has user selectable levels.
Can we get back to my initial questions?

C - I cannot speak for the Piggy back unit installed and what gains it provides.

I can only state what we offer; Sport catalyst/ down pipe – 15bhp typical.

Our Sport exhaust offers approx. 6 to 8bhp gain.

V - Thanks for the estimates.
Just wondering when I may receive the exhaust. Please advise.

C - It will be dispatched today and the tracking information will be emailed to you automatically.

That was March 27. Then on March 28,

V - No shipping advice so far but please do try to ship before the weekend.
Cheers.

C - We were ready to ship your order. However, Paypal have advised us your address is unconfirmed.

You will need to have your address confirmed and payment verified by Paypal. Alternatively payment can be made into our bank account.

V - I have used this address over the last 3 years for goods worth tens of thousands of dollars. Anyway you were aware of the status when the payment was first received. Why the last minute problem?
If you are unable to ship the goods to me, please cancel the order and refund the money today through PayPal.

C - Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about this. Paypal contacted us this morning.

If you are unable to make the changes or alter payment method we will refund your order accordingly.

V - I double checked your website and did not find any mention of requiring a confirmed address.
It is Friday evening here and I would not be able to get that address confirmed or wire you funds until next week even if I wanted to.
So the best way would be for you to send me the refund via Paypal today and we'll take it from there.

C - Our website does not mention this as it is down to Paypal who are one method of payment we accept. We have to abide by their rules for security.

Your payment will be refunded later this afternoon by our Accounts department.

V - I am a long time and frequent user of PayPal both for buying and selling and I know that they recommend but do not require the use of a confirmed address.
Of course some sellers do stipulate that they require a confirmed address for security, but it is usually communicated in advance.
It is a shame as I was looking forward to installing the exhaust next week.
Perhaps next week we could work out a better payment arrangement, after I get a chance to clear my head this weekend.
Cheers.

C - Payment via Bank transfer is preferred.

V - It would be helpful to know your bank transfer details.

C - Please note payment will need to be made in GBP (£) to our bank for the total of £1034.50.

V - I prefer to stick with the US$ amount I paid with PayPal, if that is OK with you. I have US$ funds but no sterling.

C - Our bank will only accept GBP (£) as it is only designed to operate in this currency. However, your bank should be able to transfer currencies.

V - OK I will ask my bank to exchange the US$1,656.32 into sterling and send that to your account, or I could send the US$ and your bank can exchange that to sterling for you.
Originally you would have paid PayPal's fee on the US$ I sent, and now I have to pay my bank a wire fee so I would say it's a fair deal for you.
Let me know and I will pay Monday morning.

C - Banks charge fees, there is nothing we can do about that.

The total of £1034.50 GBP will be required to complete the transaction exactly as per the price shown on our website.

This whole issue is to do with Paypal originally and nothing to do with us.

V - You do offer payment in currencies other than sterling on your website, don't you?
I took the option to pay in US$ and it was accepted.
And now I cannot pay in US$?
If you want to be unreasonable you have just lost a customer but that is your choice.

C - We accept multiple currencies for payments that are approved. Perhaps you should contact Paypal.

I am not sure what the issue is here; we are trying to assist you as best possible.

I am sorry but I cannot help you any more with regard to this.

V - The problem here is I find it hard to believe that PayPal decided not to approve my payment 3 days after they debited my balance with them and handed the funds to you. Paypal does not disapprove a payment due to an unconfirmed address, the recipient does.
I also do not enjoy being treated like a suspected internet cheat.
Enough said. I will buy my exhaust elsewhere.

Then I went online and placed a new order using my AMEX, which went smoothly.

An automated email confirmation was sent by CKS

The next day I received this:

C - I had advised you we will only accept payment for this order via Bank transfer so I am unsure as to why you have purchased using a credit card.

We have to ensure security in maintained for both our customers and ourselves.

We have just spoken to the credit card company and they require 2 additional items from you before we are permitted to send your order:
1 – Proof of address via a bill, etc with your name, address, etc all shown. This can be e-mailed to us.
2 - They have requested you provide the 2 digit authorisation code for your purchase of this order. This can be obtained from your bank/ credit card issuer (American Express).

I am trying to help you but please note I do not wish to extend this matter with receiving unnecessary comments or insults.
I had advised you we will only accept payment for this order via Bank transfer so I am unsure as to why you have purchased using a credit card.

We have to ensure security in maintained for both our customers and ourselves.

We have just spoken to the credit card company and they require 2 additional items from you before we are permitted to send your order:
1 – Proof of address via a bill, etc with your name, address, etc all shown. This can be e-mailed to us.
2 - They have requested you provide the 2 digit authorisation code for your purchase of this order. This can be obtained from your bank/ credit card issuer (American Express).

I am trying to help you but please note I do not wish to extend this matter with receiving unnecessary comments or insults.

V - Did my purchase with a valid credit card contradict any terms of use of your e-commerce setup?

You are a business and it is not good practice to prejudice some customers by moving the goal post. Your earlier emails only stated you preferred bank transfer. You did insist on payment in sterling when you readily accept US$ from others, as I demonstrated with the new order.

If you can produce a written request from your bank for the two additional items that you require, I most certainly will be willing and able to comply. This can of course be emailed to me.

May I remind you that as a consumer I also have my rights under UK and international law.

I am trying to make a bona fide purchase online and do not wish to extend this matter with receiving unnecessary requests.



__________

Great customer service, eh?

 

I know right, like I said before, I am taking legal actions against them now.

Just avoid them if you can! Worst people to deal with ever!

 

Double post.

 

I think it is important for members on here to take their time to read this UK forum link in relation to the poor customer service of CKS performance. It still baffles me why this guys are still in business. Anyone who after reading this and decides to go along and trade with them should have 'Caveat Emptor' notion in the back of their mind. Link here.

 

Another disgruntled customer who had a poor service with this company. Another UK forum link pre-dated back to 2005. Here

Note: CKS performance used to operate back in the day under the name 'Mercedes Performance' but due to bad reputation, they changed their name to 'CKS performance'.

 

Another link here. A word is enough for the wise!